Roast chicken – yum! Polenta – yum, yum, yum! This dish can’t disappoint you!
For some, polenta (cornmeal) is not a usual cooking ingredient and I have to say that until last year I wasn’t using it in my kitchen either. But ever since I discovered its taste, it became my favourite accompaniment dish and a great change from serving pasta, potatoes, rice, etc.
I first came across polenta when I was working in one of Jamie Oliver’s restaurants in London. In one of our tasting sessions, they put a spatchcocked chicken on polenta in front of me and I just loved it! It had a smooth and thick texture and a very specific, creamy taste. I immediately became a fan.
However, when I first made polenta at home, it was tasteless and lumpy and I didn’t like it at all. But that was only because I didn’t know how to cook it and didn’t really read anything about it. I put the cornmeal into a pot, poured water over it (first mistake) and added salt. However, if you want to achieve a nice creamy texture with a great taste, you first have to bring the water to boil, turn the heat down and then gradually pour the polenta into the simmering water, whisking it continuously. To finish the dish, you then need to add butter (for the creaminess), parmesan (however that is not necessary) and salt according to taste while still whisking. There are different types of cornmeal ranging from coarse to very fine and according to this you choose how long to cook it for. Some types of polenta you need to cook for up to 45 minutes but I use the very fine polenta which I cook for 5-10 minutes, making it a very quick mid-week meal :).
Polenta is a traditional northern Italian side dish and because it’s very filling, it used to be food for poor peasants. Nowadays, it is a very common dish in Italy, however it doesn’t really get that much worldwide recognition as for example pasta or pizza but it is on its way to a new audience. Polenta is very versatile and you can serve it with almost anything and in different forms – polenta as you can on the picture above, you can do polenta chips, polenta bread, polenta cake, and so on and so forth. Although my dish has quite a fancy title (I believe :) ), have a look at the picture below – that’s all what you need – very easy country meal that exceeds all expectations. Enjoy!
Roast chicken:
6 pcs of Chicken drumsticks
Lemon thyme
Garlic - 2 cloves
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper according to taste
Polenta:
Corn meal
Butter
Salt
1. Rub the chicken with salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon thyme and garlic and place in the oven. Roast for about 50 minutes (covered with a tinfoil for the first 30 minutes) or until golden and cooked properly.
2. Prepare polenta according to the instructions above. The ratio of polenta to water is about 1:4. I always measure it with cups and it is 1/2 a bigger cup of polenta for 2 cups of water for 2 people :)
